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0 pointsuDontKnowMe4y ago0 comments

This was some comfort years ago, but these days, the vast majority of reddit users are mobile and new-reddit, whose UX's favor more meme/video mindless scrolling and throwaway comments. So while the old reddit experience is there in looks it feels more hollow nowadays. You go into a common interest subreddit and where 8 years ago you might have found interesting discussions now it's all memes, inspiration photos, etc.

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Mediterraneo104y ago

I am convinced even had Reddit kept the old design, it would still suck now, because any site focused on a universal demographic will inevitably get most people coming in on mobile, and mobile inherently discourages longform text and encourages images.

I find that for various special-interest, hobbyist forums, you need some kind of friction to prevent low-effort posters from taking over, and ensure more people are participating from desktop/laptops. I have gone back some phpBB fora I have neglected after Reddit's ascent, and while there are fewer people around and they skew older, I am amazed at how substantial and competent discussions are compared to their subreddit counterparts.

willis9364y ago

>mobile inherently discourages longform text and encourages images

As I read on a site on with no images or video and entirely in the form of thoughtful responses via mobile device.

Mediterraneo104y ago

HN, as its name indicates, do not aim at a universal demographic. The demographic it does cater to is also very likely to use a keyboard heavily during the day, and so retains some good habits of longform discourse even when contributing via mobile.

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ImprovedSilence4y ago

That is not designed for mobile and does not have a mobile app.

the_lonely_road4y ago

I don’t want to argue, just maybe help you expand your horizons a bit. I am 85,000 words into my novel with almost all of those written on my IPhone using Scriviner. I like to sit in my backyard and actually purchased a big comfy writing chair recently.

After my last laptop broke I simply decided I didn’t need another one. Like most people on this site I have a beast of a desktop computer I write code on all day and then like to get away from to write my novel.

I’ve been able to maintain 2k words per day with some 5k days when I am really jiving with the scene I am writing. All from my iPhone. Times they are a changing.

Mediterraneo104y ago

You are an outlier, writing a novel from a phone keyboard (and, of course, writing a novel at all). The general public that Reddit targets does not invest the same energy in longform text from their phones. The device you see as a means to relax and focus on your novel, for most Reddit users is a more cumbersome means of expression, and moreover most of them are operating within an app that encourages inane content.

dr_kiszonka4y ago

There was interesting study [0] about typing speed on mobile devices, which they say approaches physical keyboard typing (37k participants). If you have some time to kill, I wonder what your typing speed is [1]. Mine is near the mean.

0. https://userinterfaces.aalto.fi/typing37k/

1. https://typingtest.aalto.fi/

blacktriangle4y ago

Friction is a feature, so few people seem to get that.

Seattle35034y ago

And you find people talking about new features in a way that is totally foreign to you because old reddit doesn't support them. I don't know whats someone's profile says or what their profile picture is.

meowface4y ago

I've used reddit since around 2008 and I actually prefer the redesign (customized to not show the annoying "cards" subreddit view, and with the editor default changed from "fancy" to Markdown).

I find the avatars extremely obnoxious and wish I could disable those. But besides that, it does look a bit better to me.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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Mediterraneo104y ago

willis9364y ago

>mobile inherently discourages longform text and encourages images

As I read on a site on with no images or video and entirely in the form of thoughtful responses via mobile device.

Mediterraneo104y ago

1 more reply

ImprovedSilence4y ago

That is not designed for mobile and does not have a mobile app.

the_lonely_road4y ago

I’ve been able to maintain 2k words per day with some 5k days when I am really jiving with the scene I am writing. All from my iPhone. Times they are a changing.

Mediterraneo104y ago

dr_kiszonka4y ago

0. https://userinterfaces.aalto.fi/typing37k/

1. https://typingtest.aalto.fi/

blacktriangle4y ago

Friction is a feature, so few people seem to get that.

Seattle35034y ago

meowface4y ago

I've used reddit since around 2008 and I actually prefer the redesign (customized to not show the annoying "cards" subreddit view, and with the editor default changed from "fancy" to Markdown).

I find the avatars extremely obnoxious and wish I could disable those. But besides that, it does look a bit better to me.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse